Deadly Texas Rose

Eric nodded, then pinned her with another level look. “But, did that man happen to know you? That’s what I’m wondering. And I’m not giving up on this until I find out what’s going on. Because if he did know you…if he did come here looking for you, then yes, you and your daughter might still be in danger.”

Julia gulped back her fear, her gaze meeting his. He gave her the same steady, reassuring look he’d given her in the restaurant the other day. Then he looked past her into the hallway, his eyes full of surprise.

Julia turned around to find Moria standing there with Rosa clutched to her chest. And a brilliant fear shattering her big brown eyes.

FOUR

Julia rushed to Moria. “Hey, honey. I didn’t see you there.” Bringing her daughter into the room, she pulled Moria close as she sat down on the couch. “This is my friend Mr. Butler.”

Moria sent a big-eyed look toward Eric. “Are we in trouble, Mommy?”

“Now why would you think that?” Julia asked, trying to keep her tone calm. She glanced over at Eric, hoping he hadn’t noticed the fear in her child’s eyes. Or her own, for that matter.

Moria leaned close, her hands going around Julia’s neck. “The policemen came yesterday, just like they did when Daddy went away.”

Julia’s gaze slammed into Eric’s. She could see the questions burning there inside his eyes. Pulling at Moria’s long hair with her fingers, she tried to laugh. “Oh, that. Well, it’s just that something happened at my work the other day and the police are trying to get information. But you and I haven’t done anything wrong. We’re okay, honey. It’s okay. And Mr. Butler is…he’s a sheriff’s deputy. That’s like a policeman, sorta. And he’s just trying to help out.”

Moria didn’t look convinced. “He scares me. I don’t like policemen and I don’t like strangers.”

Eric’s smile was short and quick. “I’m a friend of your mother’s. But you’re smart to be careful around strangers. Has anyone besides the policemen come by to see you or your mother?”

“No.”

“Has anyone who scares you tried to bother you at school or anywhere else, like when you’re playing outside?”

Moria shook her head but refused to say anything else.

Julia sent Eric a pleading look. “Can we finish this later?”

His nod was so subtle she almost missed it, but his eyes were on Moria. “You know, I’ve sure heard a lot about you from your mother. She loves you a lot.”

Moria didn’t reply, instead she clung to Julia even more. Afraid for her daughter, Julia gently lifted Moria up onto the couch. “Honey, stay right here while I show Mr. Butler out, okay? You can color in that new book I bought you at the grocery store yesterday.”

“Okay,” Moria said, taking Rosa in her lap. She stared up at Eric with obvious distrust, then went to the small kitchen table where her crayons and coloring book lay.

Julia motioned for him to follow her out onto the porch. After she’d shut the door, she said, “I appreciate your concern, but…Moria doesn’t understand what’s going on, and I don’t know anything about this man. I only know that I was scared, very scared, when he had that gun aimed at my head. And I am so thankful that you helped to get me away from him.” Then a new fear penetrated her already frazzled mind. “You don’t think he’d come back, do you?”

Eric’s gaze moved over her, glassy and unreadable. “That depends. He’s wounded and he’s wanted for attempted armed robbery, and somehow he managed to get away. He’d need a mighty good reason to come back to Wildflower, don’t you think?”

She thought he was fishing again, and Julia refused to give him any more information than necessary. “I think he’d be crazy to do that, but…I want to feel safe. I did feel safe here until this happened.”

He leaned back against the porch railing, his quiet gaze moving over her face. “Want to tell me about…your past? Where’d you come from?”

“I don’t have to answer that.”

“Anyone in your past who might want to do you harm?”

She glanced away, then back. Should she tell him the truth? But what purpose would that serve? Until they found this man, if this was the right man, who knew why he’d come to the diner? Maybe it had just been a random robbery and maybe she was just imagining things because of her husband’s horrible death. She didn’t want to relive all of that unless she had to.

Finally, she said, “I don’t think so.”

His harsh gaze made her edgy. “But you’re not sure?”

Dropping her hands to her sides, she asked, “How can I be sure? I’ve tried to live a quiet, normal life. I don’t have anything to hide. I just need to protect my daughter.”

“From what?”

Impatient, she said, “From the press, from the police asking too many questions. I don’t want Moria to worry about me. She’s been through enough.”

He latched on to that. “Because?”

Letting out a sigh, Julia said, “Her father died last year, okay? Surely you’ve heard I’m a widow and she’s lost her father. We’re both still trying to cope with that, but Moria is having a very hard time. I moved here to start over and to help her get through her grief. I just didn’t need this on top of everything else. So could you just go, please?”

He stepped back, palms up. “I understand and I’m sorry. Did you tell—”

“I told the sheriff’s investigators, the police officer who questioned me yesterday, and…Cat knows, of course. I didn’t tell the newspapers and television crews that my daughter has horrible nightmares about losing her father, because it’s none of their business. Can we just leave it at that?”

“They’ll keep digging.”

“I’m afraid of that.” She ran her hands through her hair. “And I know you can keep digging. You are a lawman, after all. You can find out anything you want about me. Which means I’ll probably have to pack up and move again.”

He went on full alert now. “Why would you do that?”

Wishing he hadn’t pushed her so much, she let out a bitter laugh. “I just want to get on with my life, and I thought I’d be able to do that here. But I won’t have my daughter being harassed because I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

He lifted off the railing then, his eyes moving over her with suspicion and concern. “Or…maybe you were the right person in the right place at precisely the right time. Maybe that robber knew exactly where you were and how to get to you. Which is why, if you have anything else you’d like to tell either me—off the record—or the official investigators for the record, you’d better do it, and quick. Or you won’t be able to protect yourself or your daughter.”

With that he turned to leave. But he stopped on the steps to look back at her, then pulled a card out of his shirt pocket to shove toward her. “Take this. And call me if you need anything. Anything at all, okay?”

Julia took the card, her fingers moving over the etched lettering that included his name and work number. “Thank you.”

“My home number and cell are written on the back,” he added. “Again, off the record since technically I’m off the case.”

She turned it over to scan the scrawled numbers. “Are you always this prepared?”

“I do my homework, yeah.”

That sounded like a warning. As in, he wasn’t going to give up on this. And how could she expect him to? The authorities were trying to find a man who had tried to commit armed robbery. And she was caught right in the middle. It only made sense that every area of her life would be scrutinized and analyzed until they found some answers. But…she wasn’t the criminal, she reminded herself. She just prayed they’d find the man and this would end before she had to bare her past to all of them.

“I hope you find that man,” she said as he headed down the steps. “And I’m sorry I couldn’t help you more.”

He turned one last time, his fingers on the door of his car. “And I hope you learn to trust me, so I can help you.”

Julia watched as he got in a big black truck and drove away. Could she trust him? She remembered how she’d looked toward him the day of the robbery. His strength had given her courage. The connection she’d felt that day as their eyes had locked had stayed with her, making her think she had found a champion. But she was still afraid to tell him the truth. What should I do, Lord?

It was just too dangerous, too risky. Or was she afraid of more than her past? If she poured out her heart to Eric Butler, she could lose a part of herself all over again, the way she had with Alfonso. And she refused to give control of her life to another person ever again. She wanted to be the one in charge this time around. And that meant protecting her child.

Julia went inside where Moria had her coloring book and crayons out on the kitchen table. “Want a snack, honey?”